The invention described herein may be manufactured, used and licensed by or for the Government for governmental purposes without the payment to us of any royalties thereon.
Historically, missile flight direction control has been achieved by using thrust vector control (TVC), jet reaction control (JRC), canard control or tail fin control. However, each of these control methods has significant disadvantages. For example, even though TVC systems provide high controllability with minimal drag force, they are only effective during the boost portion of the flight. JRC systems can provide control during the entire flight and also have very low drag, but are limited by the amount of propellant that can be packed into the missile. Canard and tail fin controls enable excellent controllability provided that the missile velocity is sufficient. The disadvantage here is that canard and tail fin control systems can result in excessive drag.
Another potential means of controlling the missile flight direction is a system involving the manipulation of the forward section of the missile or the nosecone. However, normally such a system requires a large amount of power to actuate the forward section.
The Rotational Canted-Joint Missile (RCJM) Control System reduces the actuation force requirement significantly by decoupling the nosecone lift force from the actuation force through a low friction joint. Utilizing a single or multiple body joints that rotate in planes that are not perpendicular to the missile body axis, the RCJM Control System deflects a portion of the missile body for flight control purposes. The canted interface plane between any two adjacent sections of the missile body and a joint at the interface plane that allows one of the sections to be rotated by a pre-determined angle with respect to the other section comprise a rotational plane mechanism that offers an inclined bearing plane with a large mechanical advantage over typical xe2x80x9cbrute forcexe2x80x9d ball joint methods.